Daily Devotions from The Word Of God… From the heart of Ed Algreen

Archive for the ‘Potter’ Category

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider feeding even us with His Word! May I encourage you to read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………

Today’s Bible Reference: Isaiah 64:8–9Today’s Bible Text: GOD, you are our Father. We’re the clay and you’re our potter: All of us are what you made us. Don’t be too angry with us, O GOD. Don’t keep a permanent account of wrongdoing. Keep in mind, please, we are your people—all of us.The Bible Translation:The Message (MSG)

My Take Away:There are some aspects of being ‘clay’ in the ‘Potter’s’ hands that could be frightening, but yet some that could be encouraging. Let’s look at each thought:

Frightening: I’m sure you have seen potters who would get so fed up with the clay that they chose to work with, that they just smashed it, after being convinced in their mind, that there is no hope of improvement, or correction, or transformation. What if God gave up on us like that? Isaiah had just relayed in prior verses that our best efforts are often no better than filthy rags, compared to the majesty of our Father (our Potter). So as we reflect on this scripture and we look to our Creator, who are we but the image of clay, that we might ask our Father to please try again. Please forgive our imperfections and our inabilities, and simply look at us as His humble creation that is modeled after His likeness with every desire to be more like Him in every way;

Encouraging: In spite of a potter’s ability to smash an imperfect first attempt at a piece of clay, it is very encouraging to consider that the potter could then take that same piece of clay and start over, to produce the most perfect thing that anyone could imagine. I believe that often we are at stages in our lives where we feel like we have messed up so much that we wish God would just start all over again with us. There are also times that we may beg God to please smooth off our rough edges; improve our speech; give us more boldness and understanding, so that we might be more productive witnesses for Him. I feel like what is really encouraging, is that we don’t have to enter the battle, or this world, in a weakened form, or unprepared, or with attitudes that might hinder the gospel, as we have a Deliverer, a Counselor, a Savior who wants to see us at our best for Him, so that the world might know…..

I feel like the greatest thing to remember today friends, is that we are not the Potter, so let’s not enter into battle unprepared or with broken pieces. Let’s look to our Potter – the Lord himself, and ask Him to prepare us for the battle, which is against all that He stands for.

Prayer:Lord, this scripture helps us to place into perspective the awesome God that we serve, or for the unbeliever, I believe they could see the tremendous power of the One who created them and who stands ready to re-mold them, should they decide to seek help before it is eternally too late. Father, You made perfect humans, yet in giving us self-will we have chosen to wander away from You and do our own thing, or the popular thing that the world expects. Please forgive us Lord, and once again speak to the very hearts of your children that are so desperately in need of re-molding. May we be as pliable as clay in your hands so that You might direct us and love us back into Your good graces. Please help us to be more like You each and every day, and may we encourage others to do the same, for I ask this in the name of Jesus, Your blessed Son, AMEN!

Footnote:If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!

The Holy Bible(New Living Translation – Isaiah 64:8-9): 8 And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand. 9 Don’t be so angry with us, Lord. Please don’t remember our sins forever. Look at us, we pray, and see that we are all your people.

Thoughts:For those of you who have worked with clay, no doubt you have worked endlessly on a project without making the desired progress, then you may have given up, squished it back to a ball of clay and started all over again, right? I’m sure that the clay didn’t speak back at you, or lash back at you for your inabilities or lack of talent to complete the project perfectly! This passage reminded me that God is my designer – my potter. He made me in the image of himself, yet I am much different to any of His other children that He also made. I believe that God will continue to work on me until the day that life leaves my body. Yes, He is God and He could instantly make perfection, however with each bump that He perfects in my sinful life, I learn a lot more about Him and about my shortcomings. In fact, many times these bumps bother me, and I have to call on God, depend on Him, and ask Him to please ease the corrective steps. Because God is my Master, my Provider, my Potter, my Divine Healer and my Friend, I have to be constantly reminded that He deserves my praise, my thanksgiving, my recognition and my obedience. I am acutely aware that in my position as mere clay in His hands, I must be daily looking into His Word for ‘Nuggets’ of Truth and grace that will help me along my road to perfection. I am reminded that because I expect His touch on my life daily, then my obligation to return thanks, to worship and adore my Lord, must be at least daily also. Surely there are many of you out there that are not as weak and sinful as I am, so you may be challenged to understand just what I am feeling in this devotional today. If there are any who feel this way, let me remind you that you would not want God to withdraw His hand from your life, or this world, for just one day. Believe me, it will not be pretty. You would quickly change your line of thinking, just as the Israelites did in this scripture today. Don’t take that chance friend. Know that You are God’s very own, by insuring that You know Jesus as your Lord and personal Savior. Then respect His authority as your ‘Potter’ so that He could continue the great work in you that He has planned for you!

Prayer:What an awesome reminder dear Lord! You created us from just a lump of clay, and no matter how we fight for our independence in smoothing out our imperfections, only You can continue perfecting the clay that You created. Only You know the end result of what You want us to look like. Only You know what we need to look like in order to effectively minister to that brother that need the Lord, or that sister who might be hurt from the evil of this world. I feel like I need to surrender to You all over again today, because although I gave my heart to You, I know that I often get in the way of You molding me into a usable vessel for Your glory. Please forgive me for my interference, and help me to daily surrender my life to You for Your service and usability. Lord, I believe that You can use even me to touch the life of an unsaved person today so that You can get to their heart and deal effectively in their life. I acknowledge that You can do it without me, but in using me I will be encouraged and blessed, and Your work will still be accomplished. I surrender all to You oh Lord. Use me as You will. For all who will be directed to read this devotional today, I pray that Your work in their heart will be evident in the way they live today. I ask all these things in the precious name of Jesus, my Lord, with thanksgiving, AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to blogger.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, Sebring, FL! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!